Serving Constituents Rather Than Ambition & Ego

Dec 28, 2013

My family and I lost power and heat at our home the night of Saturday December 21.

Over the next week we watched the original estimate for restoration of power be revised and extended several times – by my estimate it is now projected to take 3-4 times longer than originally promised, despite very cooperative weather, far more cooperative than should be expected in this city at this time of year.

Despite that we also watched certain politicians and other leaders take to the media, on a daily basis, to congratulate themselves on the great job were are doing, even as they again extended the deadlines they themselves had set. No doubt they see this as the moment that will help propel them to the next rung of the political ladder and they are doing an excellent job of serving their ambition.

Our local councillor Josh Matlow has instead been doing an outstanding job of serving his constituents. Emails were answered promptly, even over Christmas. He visited our street multiple times, at times personally delivering firewood to residents. He offered us the use of a generator he had secured from a resident, later a warm room and place to stay he had secured from another.

Political success so often seems to depend on a simplistic slogan, a high profile, or a well known spouse, husband, brother, etc. It's unfortunate because it makes it harder for a politician who is focussed on serving their constituents to compete against those that put their ambition first.